Chaapter 8. Readjusting The Thorns

                                    

                                          
After many hours of partying and drinking, the effects of the shimmer started to wear off, making my injuries worse than they were at first. Sevika was the first to notice my mind and consciousness fading out. She told everyone to get out as Jameson picked my limp body up and carry me to Singed's lab. I noticed the bandages on the doctor's face from the injuries he sustained from the explosion.
As soon as he saw everyone, including me, run into his lab, he cleared his medical table and Jameson placed me on it. After that moment, I didn't know what was happening. I was going in and out of consciousness as my vision started blurring together. I saw Silco yelling as Sevika was sitting on the sidelines. Singed strapping my arms and legs to the table, then Jameson dragging Silco out of the lab as he kept yelling. Then pain. I felt pain course through my body as memories flooded my head. My childhood with Viktor, to the hugs on the bridge, to training with Vander and Silco, to the war on the bridge and Astra trying to kill me. I felt the pain of needles going into my skin in my neck, arms, legs, and abdomen. My eyes shot open from the pain and I could see Vander and Astra standing over me, the latter holding a needle.
"This will only hurt a bit." The voice came out of Astra's mouth as her face morphed into Singed's, as I saw the needle come towards my eyes. Pain shoots through my head as the needle pushes the purple liquid into my eye, the same way it does with Silco. I soon blacked out from the pain flowing through my body, only for me to shot up, my eyes opening. I was no longer strapped down to the table as I looked at my body. All of my scars were still existent on my body for my past, but I felt stronger, more alive, and way more powerful than I have ever been. 
"Glad to see you're awake, Rose." I looked at the voice, to see Singed sitting at his desk. I look around the lab, everything seeming brighter than before. I saw Rio in her tank, living off of the shimmer being supplied by the pipes attached to her body.
"I understand now." I said, hopping off the table. I heard a cracking sound under me. I looked down to see small craters around the balls of my feet, where I landed. "What did you do to me?" I asked, my mind wandering to the needles that I was getting injected with.
"I saved your life, Rose. With Shimmer, it's made your body stronger, and more powerful. You can't be injured anymore. You'll heal instantly." Singed said, as he stood up from his desk. "I didn't want you to be my experiment. I was going to use Deckard. But Silco begged me to save you, so did Sevika and Jameson. Seems they care about you." I smiled and chuckled softly.
"Yea. I'm like a little sister to Sevika and Jameson, but Silco's intentions are different." I said, looking at Singed again. 
"I see it as well." Singed said, as he went back to his notes. "I'm glad to see you again, after all these years. How's Viktor?" I heard him asked. I'm surprised he remembers us from all those years ago, but I guess we were the only people that ever helped him out in the underworld.
"He's good. He's assistant to Professor Heimerdinger now. He's been up there for 15 years now." I smiled, remembering the few months in my childhood where we invented the shimmer product, the same stuff that both killed me and saved me. My smile dropped. "How badly was I injured?" I asked him, he stopped writing, pausing for a moment before looking at me. He stood up and walked over to me, standing before me. 
"Bad enough that I had to resuscitate you twice during the injections." I thought I felt my heart stop right there and then. I died? Briefly, but I still died. I stumbled slightly on my feet, as I lean back against the table that I once laid on just moments ago. The same table that I died on twice.
"Heart stopped? I died?" I said, still trying to wrap my head around the fact. Singed only nodded, as he looked at me sadly. It was then that I saw in his eyes, how different I was. I freaked out as I ran to a mirror, looking at myself in shock. My eyes the distinctive purple hue, but my features were sharper and more pronounced. My hair destroyed now long in half pink, half blue hues, reaching to nearly the back of my knees. My muscles more toned as my scars were slightly more purple than their usual pinkish tones. I was different, I was no longer Rose.
"I'm not Rose anymore..." I said, looking at the difference in my appearance. With everything changed, so had the voices. They were back and they were louder than before, ravaging my head like famished animals. My hands gripped my head as the voices slowly quiet down. I looked at Singed in the mirror, his face mixed with worry and regret.
"You're still Rose, my child. That'll never change, but if you choose to change your name with your new looks, that's up to you. And I'll always treat you like my daughter, like I did for you and Vik all those years ago." He said, watching my reaction to everything going on. I can hear his heartbeat and the blood rushing through my veins. I can hear voices above as clear as day, along with some music and laughing. The Last Drop? My brain was running a hundred miles per second, as every memory of the incident rushed through my brain, including seeing Vander, Mylo and Claggor die. Vi injured and Powder. Tears filled my eyes as my heart sped up. 
"I-I need to think!" I exclaimed, running out of the lab and out onto the roof. I got there quicker than I normally would, meaning that the shimmer has also increased my abilities as well. I look around, the Lanes as busy as usual. I smirked slightly, as I pulled the hood over my head and leapt towards where my childhood started. 
Running across the rooftops, my new powers enhancing my abilites as I jumped across the roofs to where I lived once before. I watched as the buildings went by, people staying indoors as everything else happened around them became too dangerous to venture outside. Enforcers still roamed the city, but in fewer numbers than before. I went past the burnt cannery that was once my home. I kept going, eventually jumping down from a rooftop, landing in front of my old home.
The door still there, though the glass windows shattered. I pushed open the door, squeaking on its hinges, entering the place I once called home. I looked around to see nothing touched, layers of dust upon everything we used to own. Some food containers were left on the dining table, our old bed ruffled from our last night here. I smiled as illusions of Viktor and I filtered through the house, recreating the memories that were once long forgotten.
"I wish I could go back to this." I whispered to myself as I sat down on the bed, a puff of dust filtered in the air around me. My mind is running a million miles a minute as every memory of my childhood floods my brain. My smile turned sad as I remember everything that has happened form our innocent childhood. All the pain, all the suffering comes into my mind, making the voices come back. Mom, dad, Astra, Vander. Everyone floods my brain, bringing me down with their words.
"Freak..."
"Monster..."
"Manic..."
"Insane..."
I gripped my hair, trying to rip the voices out of my head, instead in my hands, small clumps of pink and blue hair. The hair soon falls from my hands to the floor, as my hands drop to my lap. I'm... different. My hair is different. My eyes are different. My abilities are different. I sigh, trying to calm my racing my mind before rushing out of my old home, and going to the place where it all starts.
Astra's home was deserted, a pile of blood left on the floor, seen through the open door. I stepped inside, the sound of glass cracking under my shoes. I look around, the nice memories of Astra show up, as well as the pain and hatred that came from her abuse. My mind warps my surroundings, making it look like my own personal hell. Fire surrounds the building around me, the figures of my past standing in the flames. Vander in his monster form, Mom and Dad in the river, and Astra with a broken neck.
My mind put me in panic mode as I ran out of there as fast as I could, only for arms to wrap around my waist, pulling my back against their chest.
"Calm down, Rose. Breathe." I heard Silco's voice ringing in my ears. Though it sounded distant, it was still there. The rubbing on my back as he tried to help me breath, calmed me down enough for all the flames to disappear from my vision. My body slumped in his arms from exhaustion, as he turned my body around as I rest my face against his chest.
"How did you know I was here?" I asked him, my breathing steady now as I didn't move my head.
"I know you." He simply said, hugging me against his body. My eyes filled with tears that soon fell down my face and onto his shirt. It was only then that I saw the true effects of shimmer. My purple tears soaking into his shirt as I quickly pulled away from. Wiping my eyes, I stare at the purple liquid that was evident on my hand.
"I'm a monster." I whispered to myself, more purple tears spilling from my eyes. "The shimmer. What have you done?!" I shouted at Silco, looking him in the eyes, as I felt energy coarse through my body.
"I saved you, Rosebud." He looked at me with sad eyes, as he stood there, looking at me carefully. "Your legs were crushed and broken, your hips fractured, left lung collapsed with the right near to it. Your body covered in burns. You were nearly dead." He said softly, taking some steps towards me and gently placing his hands on my arms. The tears still falling down my face, as I looked into his eyes.
"Why? You could've let me die with the rest." I said softly, as Silco dried the tears running down my cheeks with his thumbs. He paused for a moment, analysing my face as I looked at him. My eyes a fluorescent purple, reflecting in his eyes. He took a deep breath, before holding my face gently in his hands.
"Because..." he sighed, as if he was trying to find the right words to say. Could he feel the same way? "Because I love you. I love you, Rosebud, with all my heart. I have for years. I tried finding you after the incident, but I couldn't. I've missed you, and I've yearned for you. You are, and always will be my rosebud." He said, as I stood there in shock. For years, the feelings that I thought wouldn't be reciprocated are, and I'm happy. I smiled a Cheshire grin as I stood on my tippy toes and gently pecked his lips. I pulled away as his face turned to shock.
"I've loved you too. Since we first met." I stated, rubbing away the tears from my face. It was his turn to smile as he pulled me closer to him and fully kissed me on the lips. I returned the kiss as I place my hands on either side of his neck, kissing him like there was no tomorrow.